Tension mechanism for knitting-machines.



J. D. MORLEY. TENSION MECHANISM FOR KNITTING MACHINES.

' APPLICATION FILED FEB. B, 1908.

Patented Oct. 1, 1912.

-1. n. MORLEY. TENSION MECHANISM FOR KNITTING MACHINES.

APPLICATION PILED FEB. B, 1908. 1,039,9 9, Patented Oct. 1, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

N TED STATES PArENT OFFICE JOSEPH'D. MORLEY, F UTICA, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, T0 SCOTT dc WILLIAMS, INCORPORATED, 0F CAMDEN, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

TENSION MECHANISM FOR KNITTING-MACHINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 1, 1&12.

' Application filed February 8, 1908. Serial No. 414,898.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH D. MO LEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Utica, New York, have invented certain Improvements in Tension Mechanism for 4 Knitting-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

Thebbjectof my invention is to so construct tension mechanism for knitting machines and especially for rib knitting machines, that the knit-ted web will be of closer texture or' willhave a closer disposition of the needle wales than would be possible in the absence of such tension mechanism. This object I attain in the manner hereinafter set forth, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a View, partly in side elevatlon and artly in section, of snflicient of a rib knitting machine to illustrate my invention, the machine being one of that class in which the needle cylinder and dial are non-rotating; Fig. 2 is a view illustrating a modified arrangement of take-up mechanism foraccomplishing the desired result,and F g. 3 1s a'view, partly in side elevation and partly in section, illustrating one application of my invention to a rib'knitting machine of that type in which rotating needle carriers are employed. r-

' In the operation of an ordinary knitting machine it is not practicable to impart a heavy tension to the knitted web, the limit in this respect being determined by the amount of strain to which it is safe to sub ject the stitches upon the needles. If, however, the knitted web is subjected to a relativelv heavy tension shortly after its production, or before its'stitches have time to become set as by-conditions of heat and moisture effecting, after a time has elapsed,

a more or less permanent impressed bend or curve at each knit loop, a closer texture, or a closer dis osition of the needle wales of the web, can produced than would normally be possible with a given gage or degree of separation of the needles of the machine,

although. this resultcannot be accomplished by subjecting the web to heavy tension after its stitches havethus become set. My invention therefore consists in roviding the machine with means wh y the freshly knitted ribbed web can be sub ected to relatively heavy tension without in. parting a like heavy tension to the stitches upon the needles. One means for accomplishing this result is represented in Fig. -1 of the drawing, in which 1 represents a rib knitting machine of any ordinary construction, 2-2

. a pair of take-uprolls for the knitted web,

and 33 a pair of supplementary take-up rolls located below the first and acting upop the web as it passes down from said-first pair. The primary take-up rolls 2-2 are carried by a swinging vframe 4, and the secondary take-up rolls 3--3 by a swinging frame One of the primary take-up rolls is positively driven by gearing of such character that there can be norotative movement of said roll by reason of downward pull "1.

upon the web passing between the rolls, and consequently no transmission of tension from the web below the rolls to that above the rolls, without movement of the frame carryingthe rolls. It is not essential that the secondary take-up rolls should be similarly driven, although-in the present instance Ihave shown like driving devices for both sets ofrolls. A number of take-up mechanisms of this character have heretofore been d; ised and are now. in use, and I have, in the present case selected, for pursufliciently to slac en the tension on the belt,

when the take-up will eeaseuntil the rollcarrier has again descended sufficiently to tighten the belt, whereupon the take-u will resumed and these.operationswill. re-

In Fig. 1 of the'drawing, the belt pulley of the primary take-up mechanismis represented at 6, the driving mounted upon the main driving shaft of the machineand'the belt being pulley 7 being ic'sented at 9; belt pulley of" the-secondary' takeeup mechanism is indicated at l io'an the sameis driven bya lbelt 11 from a pulley '12 on the same shaft which carries the pulley 6.-' The swinging frame of the lower or supplementary take-up mechanism is weighted as at 13, to provide the required vtension, and the swinging frame of the upper or .pri'mary' takeaip' mechanism is counter-weighted as at. 14,'in order to relieve saidprimary take-up mechanism from ;tween the needles and theprimary take-up ,Inechani'sm. "If for instance the lower takeup mechanism-is weighted so asto exert a downward pull of one-hundred pounds upon the web, and theupper, take-up mechanism is counterweighted' so asto exert an up-J ward pull of ninety pounds upon said web,

- that portion of the'web between the two take-upswill be subjected to 'a tension of ninety pounds, while the web between the needles and the upper take-up will be subjected-to a downward pull-or tension of but ten pounds. The same resultmay be accomplished by driving the secondary pair of take-up rolls by friction when said takeup rolls are mounted in the same swinging structure as the rimary take-up rolls, and

' in Fig. 2 I have illustrated an instance of atake-up device of this type, the supplementary take-up rolls 3 being mounted in the same frame as the primary take-up rolls -and the driving roll of the supplementary pair being secured to a shaft which has a belt pulley 15, driven by means of a belt 16 from a pulley 17 on the shaft of' the driving roll of the primary pair, the secondary take-up rolls being so constructed as to' have normally, a somewhat higher surface speed than the primary take-up rolls, as. for instance by making them of somewhat larger diameter than the said primary take-up rolls,;as shown in Fig. 2, or by the use of equivalent means, the tension upon the web between the two sets of rolls being dependent upon the tension of the belt 16, which may, if desired, be susceptible of graduation. r

If desired, the secondary take-up rolls may be mounted in fixed bearings,'and in Fig. 31 have illustrated such a modification of my invention, selecting for the purpose of such illustration a machine of that type( in which the needle cylinder and dial of the machine rot-ate, as distinguished from the type of machine shown in Fig. 1, in which the needle cylinder and dial are stationary. The needle cylinder is carried by a toothed ring 20 rotated in any suitable manner, spur teeth on the periphery of this ring meshing oam a shaft'22, whose lower end is provided with a spur pinion 23 meshing with teeth'around mounted in a suitable bearing on the fixe structure of'the machine and being provided with a bracket 25 upon which is pivotally mounted the counterweighted frame 4, carrying the primary take-up rolls 2, the driving pulley 6 for these rolls being operated by a belt 9 which depends from a pulley 7, free to rotate on aspindle which projects from 'a depending bracket. 26 on the ring 20, said pulley 7 being connected to a spur wheel 27, and the latter meshing with a rack on the undersideof'the cam cylinder 29 of the machine, whereby, as the ring 20 is rotated, rotating movement will likewise be imparted to the spur wheel 27 and to the parts driven thereby. Depending from the ring 24 are legs 30 and to bearings at the lower ends of these legs are adapted the shafts ofthe secondary or supplementary take-up rolls 3, the shaft of the driving take-up roll having a ratchet-wheel 31, which is engaged by a pawl 32 on a vertically reciprocable bar upon by cams 35 suitably mdunted upon any available 'fixcd member of the machine. .The bar 33 has a projectinglug 36, and from the latter to a Iug 37 projecting from the lower bearing 34, extends a coiled spring 39, whose' lower end is rigidly connected to the lug 37, its upper end passing through an opening in the lug 36 and being threaded for the reception of a thumb nut 40, whereby its tension can be readily adjusted.

()ne or more detents 41 engage the teeth of the ratchet wheel 31 and prevent any back movement'of the same or of the supplementary take-up rolls 3. On each rotation of the machine therefore the lower end of the bar 33 will be acted upon by the cams 35 and said-bar will be lifted so as to retract forward movement of the pawl being effected by the act-ion of the spring 39, consequently, whenever the pawl- 32, on the -upward movement of the bai '33, engages a fresh tooth of the ratchet"wheel 31, said pawl will, on the descent of the bar under the action of the spring, push forward said ratchet wheel with a force dependent upon the tension of said spring and will thus cause forward movement of the driving take-up roll 3 and forward pull upon the web depending from the primary take-up rolls, the tension thus exerted upon this portion of the web being directly proporbeing therefore-as heavy as desired, while the tension exerted by the primary pair of feed rolls 2 will be much lcss because of the with a spur pinion 21 on the upper end of action of the counterweight 14 upon the swinging frame 4 which carries said pri- 33, mounted in bearings 34 on one of the legs 5 30, the lower rend of this bar being acted the pawl 32, the descent of the bar 33 and tionatc to the tension of the spring 39 and the periphery of a ring 24, the latter being With the information which I have given mary take-up rolls. One of the tension rolls 'of each set may be dispensed with if desired, if the driving tension roll is provided with a surface of such character as to properly grip the'knitted web and prevent the being-more uniform and reliable in their action.

. as to different means for carrying out my invention, other modifications within its scope will readily suggest themselves to those skilled in the art to which said invention appertains.

,I claim g 1.'A knitting' machine. having take-up mechanism for the knitted web, comprising primaryand secondary members, means for imparting tension to the web after it has passed said primary member,'and means for relieving from a portion of such tension the webwhich is acted upon .by the primary tension member. p

2. A knitting machine having take-up mechanism for the knitted web, comprising primary and secondary members, the secon'dary member being weigh-ted and the primary member counter-Weighted.

3. A knitting machine having take-up mechanism comprising primary and secondary members, each having one or more take-up rolls carried by a movable frame, the frame of the secondary member being weighted and the frame of the primary member being count-erweighted in order to relieve the same from a portion of the y'veight of the secondary member. r

4. A knitting .machine having take-'11 mechanism comprising primary and secon ary members acting in succession upon the web delivered by the needles of the machine, and means whereby the primary member is caused to exert a pull upon the web between said primary member and the needles and the secondary member is caused to exerta stronger pull upon the Web between the pri- 

